オバマ演説―寛容と品位を求めた

2011/01/28
--The Asahi Shimbun, Jan. 27
EDITORIAL: State of the Union
オバマ演説―寛容と品位を求めた

American coins are inscribed with the motto "E pluribus unum," a Latin phrase meaning "Out of many, one." It derives from the United States' fight for independence from Britain, and the unity of the 13 colonies that founded the nation. Now, however, it has a broader connection to the idea that the United States is made up of people from diverse racial and religious backgrounds.
　米国の硬貨には、ラテン語で「エ・プルリブス・ウヌム（多から生まれる一つ）」という標語が刻まれている。１３の植民地が結束して独立を達成したことに由来するが、現在ではもっと広く、多様な人種、宗教からなる米国が統合されていることを指す。

U.S. President Barack Obama seemed to be aiming at a regeneration of that spirit of unity in the State of the Union address Tuesday in the U.S. House of Representatives.
　２５日の米連邦議会で一般教書演説をしたオバマ大統領の念頭には、この国家理念の再生があったのではないか。

The Obama administration, which took power two years ago promising to deliver change, has passed the halfway mark of its current term. In last year's midterm election, his Democratic Party suffered a crushing defeat to the Republican Party, which now holds a majority in the House of Representatives.
　「チェンジ」の合言葉とともに２年前に誕生したオバマ政権は、折り返し点を迎えた。昨年の中間選挙で与党の民主党は大敗。下院の主導権を共和党に奪われた。

In the State of the Union address, Obama once again called for nonpartisanship, appealing to all parts of the political spectrum to realize that there is no realistic option other than to work together. In the context of the history of the United States, this represents much more than empty political rhetoric.
　内政・外交の基本方針を示す一般教書演説で、大統領は改めて超党派路線を呼びかけた。それは、両党の歩み寄り以外に現実に可能な選択肢がないことを意味しているのだが、歴史に照らすと、単なる政治的便宜主義を超えた意味がある。

Since the 1960s, American society has seen strong reactions among conservatives to the civil rights movement, the anti-war movement, feminism, and other waves of change. Those clashes have embroiled the country in a "culture war." The rift between conservatives and liberals has grown, and Congress, where bipartisan compromise had once been a matter of course, has turned into a battleground of fundamentalisms. The grass-roots conservative Tea Party movement has spread across the nation. Radio talk shows and the Internet are amplifying the hatred.
　１９６０年代以降の米社会は、公民権運動、反戦運動、女性解放をめぐるフェミニズムの動きなどに、保守層が激しく反発し、文化戦争の様相を呈してきた。保守とリベラルに二極化した社会の亀裂は深まるばかりで、党派を超えた歩み寄りが当たり前だった議会は今や、原理主義の戦場となった。各地で草の根保守の茶会旋風が吹き、ラジオのトークショーやインターネットの言論が憎しみを増長させている。

The president, who was born to a white mother and an African father, tried to position himself as "a bridge" linking different ideas and cultures. However, the health-care reform bill on which he staked his administration's fate has been labeled as "socialist." It barely made it onto the statute book, and then only after a significant revisions. There are no signs of the rift in U.S. politics narrowing. Discord peaked with the shooting of a Democrat congresswoman in Tucson, Arizona, earlier this month. Some liberals have blamed radical speech by the conservatives. Conservatives have hit back at liberals, saying they are using a crime by a mentally disturbed person for political gain.
　白人女性とアフリカ人男性の間に生まれた大統領は、単に黒人の立場を主張するのではなく、異なる主義や文化をつなぐ「ブリッジ」を目指して政権に就いた。しかし、政権の命運をかけた医療保険法は「社会主義」のレッテルを貼られ、かろうじて修正成立したものの分極化は止まらない。先のアリゾナ州トゥーソンの民主党議員狙撃事件で、対立は頂点に達した。リベラル派は保守派の過激な言論が背景だと言い、保守派は精神病患者の犯罪を政治利用しているとなじった。

A speech by the president mourning the shooting victims was a breakthrough in this difficult situation. Recounting stories of each victim's life, he called on the nation to transcend partisan differences and to recover civility in public discourse. He called on U.S. society to live up to the ideals of the victims of the shootings. The speech has been described as his best since taking office.
　この難しい局面を打開したのが、大統領の追悼演説だった。凶弾に倒れた一人ひとりのかけがえのない人生の物語を紡ぎながら、党派を超えて犠牲者たちの願いにふさわしい品位を社会に取り戻そうと訴えた。就任以来最も優れた演説だと評価されている。

A spirit of compromise has also been apparent in policies such as the lowering of corporate tax rates. An extension of tax breaks for the wealthy, accepted by the president at the end of last year, was also a concession to the Republicans. At the same time, the president also showed his toughness in winning approval for a U.S.-Russian nuclear disarmament treaty.
　歩み寄りは、法人税率の引き下げなど政策でも表れた。大統領が昨年末に受け入れた富裕層に対する優遇税制の延長は、共和党への妥協である。その取引の中で、米ロの核軍縮条約の承認を勝ち取るしたたかさも見せた。

The United States is not the only country where political rhetoric has intensified and deteriorated, or where the art of compromise has been lost. Intolerance is a disease common to advanced democracies. It is a self-destructive illness. The United States' struggle over the ideals encapsulated by the motto "E pluribus unum" (out of many, one) is also our own problem.
　政治のレトリックが激化、そして劣化し、妥協の技術が失われているのは米国だけではない。不寛容は先進民主主義国共通の病であり、社会を自壊させかねぬ病理である。多様でありながら一つである、という米国の理念をめぐる格闘は我々の課題でもある。